Fresh Start
by NJCD
Summary: 5 years ago, Eli Goldsworthy was abducted. Forced into a life of prostitution, beating and rape, his positive attitude faded, as did his smile. Now, he's free and living in Toronto, but has an endless amount of problems and fears.
1. The Chosen

**Okay. First chapter. Nervous of feedback. Only 2 people, not including myself have read this. Hope you enjoy. Hope to see feedback.**

**-_NJCD_**

**Wait, wait, no. This Author's note is not over. About a week and a half ago, my teacher, who I'll call Mr. Smith, moved me to a seat where I can't see the board. And he writes the work on the board, so I can't do the work, and if I try to stand up or walk to the board, he snaps at me.**

**And it's not like I can ask him, because he'll just respond with, "It's on the board." And if someone asks him for help, "It's in the book."**

**And I've told him, every day I have his class, "Mister, I can't see the board." And he called me a "God damn liar". And, like, I'm not lying. I have bad eyesight.**

**So, today, I kinda snapped...**

**I sat in my old seat, like always, and he told me to move. I said I couldn't see over in my new seat, to which he repeated himself.**

**So, I said, "I don't know what it's gonna take to wrap it around your fucking head that I can't see the God-damn board from over there. I'm trying not to fail this fucking class, and if I can't see the damn work, how the fuck am I to do that? **

**And the whole time I'm saying all of this, he's telling me to get out.**

**"Not that we learn anything in this class, anyways, 'cause all you do is hand us a God-damn textbook and sit at your desk. The only time we ever fucking learn shit in here is when [Enter Teacher's Assistant name here] takes over your crappy class"**

**And he said I could just leave, so I started to, while still yelling at him, mostly about how terrible of a teacher his is and how bad his class is. And he said I could have fun with my suspension, which he assumed I would get.**

**So I went to the Vice Principle, and we talked for about 15 minutes. I managed to convince him to let me go back to class.**

**My teacher, who was expecting I'd get suspended, said, "What are you doing here." And I said, "This is my class. I'm here to try and learn."**

**And I'm like a God now. **

**Me and another student are going to print out a bunch of complaints forms and have everyone who will fill one out. And turn them in to the VP and get 'Mr. Smith' fired.**

**_-NJCD_**

* * *

**Chapter One.**

**The Chosen.**

Sunday, September 2, 2012

"It was nearly 5 years ago when Elijah Goldsworthy was abducted from this Californian Middle school. The date was December 23, the night of the school's Christmas play. Elijah was to be one of the wise men. Disappearing an hour before the play, it was assumed his lack of appearance was due to stage fright. But when the police issued a statewide Amber Alert, everyone knew that was not the case.

"For weeks, search parties went underway, but no progress was made. With no evidence or leads to follow, the investigation was closed. For years, residents of this small town mourned for the loss of one of their most favorite residents. A straight A student, Elijah was in several plays and always seemed to be happy. No one could understand the sudden disappearance. There were no witnesses, no leads, nothing. Elijah Goldsworthy seemed to just disappear off the ace of the planet.

"But over 5 years later, while filling up the tank to his patrol cruiser, Officer Rob Jameson was suddenly enveloped in the arms of a boy. The boy, a teenager dressed in black jeans and a dark green polo shirt, was hoarsely whispering to the policeman, 'Help me, help me, please help me. Don't let him take me, he'll hurt me, please.'"

A man flashed onto the screen, dressed in a dark blue shirt with a black tie. His name, Robert Jameson, was illuminated near him. "When he first clung onto me, he was saying all this crazy stuff. Hell, I thought the kid was on drugs.

"Anyways, he's clinging onto me, and I'm trying to pry him off, and this guys comes out of the store. He sees to boy clinging to me, and rushes over, looking scared, calling, 'Tyler! Tyler, come on. Get 'way from the nice man.' And he tried to pull him back, but the kid wouldn't let me go, and kept saying, 'He's not my dad, he's not my dad.' And I didn't know what to think, 'cause this kid's skin was pale, his eyes were bloodshot, he had a limp...he looked like your typical drug addict.

"And this boy, this teenager, is 15 or 16, so it was so strange to me how he was talking and what he was saying. He was behaving like a little kid, the way he said, 'He's not my dad'. The man looked rather upset and he said that this was his schizophrenic son who'd forgotten his meds.

"Well, the whole thing looked suspicious to me, so I called it in. We get the two down to the station, and we explained to the man, who told us his real name immediately, Justin Kimball, that he'd be out of here once we cleared it up."

The policeman on the illuminated screen bit his lip, and nodded his head, as if thinking, then continued,

"I took the boy into an interrogation room and asked him his name, if he had the same last name as his dad. His eyes went wide, and he shook his head furiously...'He's not my dad, my name's Eli, and he's not my dad.' and he stood up and jabbed this flyer we had with his finger."

If you looked closely, the policeman was on the verge of tears.

"He could hardly talked, he stuttered so much. His voice was a constant stuttering, it took him a minute to speak one sentence. So, after a while with verifying things, I get to call his parents. I said to them, 'I think we found him.'. Within 20 minutes, they were here, and just hugged him, Elijah. He just sorta...sat there. He looked uncomfortable, actually.

"This kid went through rape, molestation, physical and emotional abuse. He's been through everything. But the trials are over now, and Kimball got 2 life sentences...I'm glad it's over. I'm glad this kid's safe." The scene changed to the women again. She was standing in a dark stone room.

"This room that I'm standing in is where Elijah Goldsworthy was never allowed to leave for 4 and a half years. None of you viewers would ever be able to tell, but the smell in here is awful. The floor is damp, the smell is bad...everything in here is awful. I could not imagine living here for even a day.

"Over here," She moves to one corner of the room, "Is where he was chained up and had sexual acts forced on him." She motioned to some chains that were in the wall, "And not only did Justin Kimball perform these acts, several of his friends and acquaintances did.

"When this basement was first discovered, there was blood everywhere. Here are some pictures released by the police." Replacing the reporter on the screen, some pictures of the room with dried blood and, then, a table with handcuffs and very gruesome torture devices.

"On August 24, 2012, Kimball went to get gas for his station wagon, the same one which he first abducted Eli with, but realized that he'd left Elijah alone. He did this often, of course, but this particular time, he decided to bring Elijah with him as the hinges and locks on the bookcase that blocked him from getting out were breaking."

"Justin Kimball filled up the tank, and went inside to get some some snacks. Kimball warned Eli not to leave the car or bring attention to himself. But, as Elijah was waiting for Kimball to come back, he saw a police officer. He checked inside, to see Kimball at the checkout counter, purchasing alcohol, chips and cigarettes. Taking the biggest risk he felt possible, he opened to door and ran, with a noticeable limp, and attached himself to the police officer.

"Once Justin Kimball saw what happened and tried to convince the officer to release his son. Fortunately, he took them to the police station where things were cleared up. Immediately taken into police custody, a trial began to progress.

"When the police attempted to get Elijah's side of the story, they discovered he could hardly talk. Over the years, he'd developed a stutter, a terrible stutter, leaving him appearing mentally retarded. Several physiological and mental tests went underway, and they discovered this was not the case. His stutter has gotten worse over the years, Kimball recalls, and probably began 6 months into imprisonment.

"Because of this stutter, it took months to get Elijah side of the story, and it also made any legal trials take several days. Kimball was originally going to get 40 years in prison, but at another trial, he was given 3 lifetime sentences with no chance of parole.

"Due to the severity of the sexual activities and torture with left Eli with many metal problems, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and a severe speech disorder, not to forget that when he was rescued, he weighed a mere 87 pounds, \ the state awarded the Goldsworthy family with a settlement of 250,000 dollars.

"As for-"

The television screen turned black. Cece Goldsworthy turned around, seeing her husband holding the remote, looking unsurprised, "What're up for so early? It's only 6." He looked at her worriedly, "Babe, Elijah-er, Eli's home now. We're a family again. He's home. Why do you watch this?"

What it is she'd been watching was a 30 minutes program about Eli's abduction. She watched it whenever she couldn't sleep. Remembering 5 years ago, when she'd been in the auditorium, camera-ready, excited to see her son in the play. But word spread quickly that Eli couldn't be found. They called him, several times, but he didn't answer his phone.

"I just...he went through so much! All because I was the on who pressured him to try out for that play!" Bullfrog gave a heavy chuckle, "He would've done that even if you forbid him to. Cece, what happened was no one's fault except that evil man's."

He sat down next to her, and wrapped his arms around her, "Remember how we said that when the trials were over, Justin Kimball is in prison, we finished the move and Eli was home we'd let him open the presents?" He nodded at the Christmas Tree that'd been erect for 5 years, though it'd been moved when the family had moved.

Knowing their son and what'd he been through, they knew he wouldn't want to face his old friends, as they knew what'd happened to him. Everyone in his town knew. So they decided it would be best to leave California and go to Canada. Eli always dreamed of snow.

Even though Eli had disappeared, and the case was even closed, they got him present every year for both Christmas and his birthday. They'd accumulated under the tree, and were begging to be opened. "He said he would open them today, Ce." A small smile crossed over her face, and she wiped her tears, "He did."

Upstairs, Eli was in his new room. He'd been awake for an hour, but couldn't force himself to go downstairs. After the trial, only 2 weeks earlier, Eli couldn't look his parents in the eye. They knew about what had happened in that basement. They knew their son wasn't a virgin, that he wasn't clean and pure, that he wasn't good enough for anything.

This, of course, wasn't the case. His parents still saw him as their perfect son.

Eli pulled on a black t-shirt and tip-toes downstairs. He saw his parents at the breakfast table. They must've sensed his presence, as they turned to look at him, instantly smiled, "Morning, baby-boy. Do you wanna open some presents today?

After an extensive summer of tutoring and tests to pass, Eli was able to be in the grade below his appropriate one.

"Okay," He said. He hardly talked, as, when he did, he stuttered uncontrollably, making it difficult to have conversations with people. He picked up 4 presents and sat at the table with his parents. The first thing he opened was a small lego set, to build a police station with.

"That one was from when you still liked legos-I mean, maybe you like them now, but we bought that so long ago, around the time of the play." Bullfrog quickly explained. Eli wanted to smile, in a way, but he'd stopped smiling long ago.

The next present was a Nirvana vinyl record, 'Nevermind'. "There's a record player in there somewhere; you said you wanted one."

He nodded, smiling inside, and pulled the record out, examining it's smooth grooves. Next was a Rubik's Cube and the last one he opened, for now anyways, was a Nintendo DS, with a pokémon game taped the the box.

"Thank you." Eli said to his parents. "Can-Can I go outside? Like, walk a-a-around...?" He asked hesitantly. Bullfrog sighed and looked over at Cece who was biting her lip. Eli's hands, needing something to do, began opening the box in which the Rubik's Cube rest.

"You have to take your cellphone. And this," He handed Eli a metal whistle that could go around his neck. "O-O-Okay." Eli stuttered. He hated the fact that he'd developed a stutter, all because Justin got upset when Eli said the wrong thing.

"Stay in public, okay?" Eli nodded at stood up, carrying his now unwrapped Rubik's Cube and walked outside. His parents watched him from the window. Several therapist and doctors told them it was important for Eli to have his dependence, but also to keep him safe, hence the whistle.

Eli walked the streets, with a tight grip on his whistle, and soon came to a small coffee shop. 'The Dot' was full of high-school kids, drinking coffee and eating fries. Hesitantly, Eli walked in the shop, getting a number of glances, and stood in line.

"What can I get for you today?" Eli looked up at a blond-haired boy, "I-I- can I have a-a hot chocolate?" Eli pushed forward a ten dollar bill from his back pocket and tried to ignore the look that the boy was giving him. After getting his change and shoving it into his pocket. He waited patiently by the counter, fiddling with the Rubik's Cube. Another person handed him his drink, and told him to have a good day.

Outside, Eli found a bench to sip the hot chocolate and play with the Rubik's Cube. He remembered being 13 years old, wanting a Rubik's Cube so bad. All his friends has Rubik's Cubes. He wanted to be able to bring one to school, with beaming pride, and show all his friends that he'd solved it. That all sides were of only one color.

Twisting the rows, he tried again and again to solve it, but found himself unable to. His parents, therapists and even the judge at all the trials had expressed that Eli was one of the most patient people he knew. But, then again, he'd wanted a Rubik's Cube for 5 years, and, everyday, Justin promised he'd bring one home, but never did.

He sighed and combed his fingers through his hair. "Having trouble?" His head snapped up to see a girl standing before him. "I-I-I've never don-done one b-b-before." He stuttered, instantly embarrassed. "May I see?" She sat next to him and pulled the Rubik's Cube from his hand.

The girl, whose name he still didn't know, had light brown hair, that only went down to her neck. They sat in silence for a bit over 5 minutes, then the girl handed Eli back the Rubik's Cube, "There. Your turn." He looked at it, seeing that 1 side had been completed.

Eli fumbled with it for a few minutes, eventually giving up again, "I can't." He admitted defeat and handed it to her. Too embarrassed to continue the conversation, he stood up and walked away, despite the fact she was calling him.

* * *

After leaving the girl at the park, Eli walked around town for hours more, staying in the most public places. When he got home, his parents were making lunch. "It's hamburgers. How many do you want?" Bullfrog asked. "N-None." Eli ran upstairs and climbed into his bed. Realization hit him: He just lost his Rubik's Cube. He gave it to a total stranger, whom he'd probably never see again. With a loud sigh, Eli paced around his room angrily.

He'd waited 5 years to unwrap that present, and he simply lost it. It's not like he couldn't buy a new on; he could. But that one was special. And he couldn't tell his parents he'd lost it. They'd be disappointed, he was sure. Eli badly faked a smile and tried to look on the bright side of things.

He just couldn't.

He'd always imagined hugging his parents if he ever got out of that basement, but, when he finally did, he couldn't bear even being touched. Hugging that policeman was different, though, as he was an authority of the law. But even accidentally grazing his fathers hand when he takes something from it freaks Eli out.

"Are you okay?"

Eli turned to see his mom standing in the doorway. Eli nodded, "Yeah. Just-Just, uh, th-thinking." Cece pursed her lips and nodded, "Dinner will be ready soon, if you change your mind." Eli nodded, but didn't consider going downstairs. He no longer felt a need to eat most of the time. His body was well adjusted to go days without food.

From downstairs, Eli could here his parents loud voices echoing off the walls. He softly walked to the door, opened it a crack, and listened to what they were saying.

"Well, I don't know what to do! He's not eating, he's not sleeping; he looks like he's on meth!" Eli's shoulder's slumped: he'd heard that before. "He's not-" His father was immediately interrupted, "I know! But he's starving himself!"

"Cece, he's not starving himself. He's not hungry. He has no reason to starve himself." Right after his father's voice, his mom snapped again, "He never sleeps! I can hear him up there, late at night, pacing back and forth!"

Eli closed the door immediately and walked as quietly as he could back to him bed. All I do is hurt people. My mom's crying because of me. Her life sucks because of me.

Eli lay on the wooden floor, staring at his grey ceiling. Thinking again of the Rubik's Cube, he decided it would make both him and his parents happy if he were to open some more of his old presents. Noticing his parents arguing had ceased, he ran downstairs, two steps at a time, and, as brightly as he could, asked, "Can I open some more presents?"

Just as Eli thought, a smile came over their faces, "Of course. Come on, baby, come on." Cece urged. Eli knelt down and picked up one, rather soft, package, ripping it open, trying to look happy. His parents needed this. He needed to be happy, but he saw nothing to be happy for.

From the paper, Eli pulled out a T-Shirt. With closer inspection, he saw it was a Nirvana shirt. "I-I remember ask-asking for this." Eli said softly. "We'll open more tomorrow, alright, kiddo? Go get some sleep."

Nodding, he stood up and walked up the long stairs to his room. In there, he changed into the shirt, but took it off instantly, not wanting to get it dirty, as he hadn't showered that day.

Pulling a Chuck Palahniuk book from his shelf, Eli settled on the floor, which he preferred to the bed, and eventually drifted to sleep.

_But then the lamp shade smiled at me,  
_  
_And it said, "Believe" it said, "believe."  
_  
_I want you to know it's nothing personal_

_-'The Chosen', Aurelio Voltaire_

* * *

**Thanks for taking the time to read this. You know what else you should take the time to read? Anyone of Silentwriter987's works. She's taking a break from writing, but has enough stories to keep you satisfied for a month.**

**Oh, and any suggestions for this story are welcomed.**

**_-NJCD_**


	2. Welcome to the World

**Yes, I know: I;m advancing the story line fast without advancing the timeline at an equal pace. **

**Me and this girl are sort of dating...we're friends who have all the benefits of dating, as if we were dating.**

**And, um, my teacher is being stubborn and won't move me. Also, my friend and I were going to sign up for Baseball, but now he wants to sign up for soccer.**

**(sorry for all the personal stuff, I like talking to y'all)**

_**-NJCD**_

* * *

**Chapter Two.**

**Welcome to the World.**

Monday, September 3, 2012

"There it is, Eli, Degrassi Community School. You have your schedule, right?"

Eli pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket, "Uh, yeah. H-Here." Bullfrog took the paper from Eli and looked over it. "It's so awesome that you got into advanced English. You still have to go to tutoring."

"I-I know."

"Everyday, after school. It's in the library. Wait until I come in there to get you, okay?" Bullfrog handed Eli the schedule, "Have a good day, son."

"Bye, d-dad." Eli opened the door and climbed out, walking towards the steps. He saw various different people but ignored them all.

Suddenly, he wasn't sure what to do. He remembered that, back in middle school, he had tons of friends. Everyone liked him. And he'd always hang out with his friends and race. Just do kid stuff.

Now he felt lost.

He knew no one here. Walking along the lockers, he searched for his. Locker 254. He entered the combination typed on his schedule. The locker, of course, was empty. Eli began filling it with his things.

"Hey, Rubik's boy!" Eli turned around, suddenly terrified. What did someone want? Did they see him with it yesterday? Is that his new nickname?

But it was only the girl from yesterday.

"I-I'm Eli."

"Clare. I have your Rubik's Cube at my house. I solved another side."

"Th-Thank you."

She smiled at him, amused, "What grade are you in?" It took Eli a second, but he answered, "10th. I'm i-in 10th."

"I'll bring it tomorrow."

Eli nodded and watched her walk away. The bell suddenly rang over head and Eli pulled his schedule out. English. He sighed. He didn't think he could do this.

He was extremely nervous as he walked towards room 103. Surprisingly, he saw the girl, Clare, go in a few seconds before him. Everyone was sitting their seats, and Eli felt lost.

"You must be Elijah."

"E-Eli." He corrected the teacher.

"Class, this is our new student, Eli. Let's try our best to make him feel welcome." And all eyes were on him.

"Why don't you go sit by Adam?" She motioned to an empty seat near a boy with a beanie.

He nodded and walked through the desk, sitting in a chair which, he noticed, was in front of Clare. His face had gone extremely pale. He hated this. He hated being around people.

"Class, we're going to read a poem by Robert Frost. Turn to page 124 in your textbooks."

All the students, including Eli, reached under their desks and pulled out a text book. The poem they had to read, A Time to Talk, was short and boring.

"This week, we'll be reading several of Frost's poems and analyzing them. Just write what you think this poem is about. Start with this, and have a partner go over it. And, class, don't forget to say how this poem makes you feel." Eli sighed and read the poem again.

He already had his answer all worked out in his mind and spent a little while writing it down.

I can relate to this poem, so I both like and dislike it. In A Time to Talk the speaker is talking about how if a friend comes to talk to him while he is busy doing something, he will put down what he is doing and talk to them.

I used to try to do this as well. Maintaining friendships held a lot of importance to me when I was younger, so whenever a friend needs my help or wants to talk to me, I would've put down whatever I was doing and helped or talked to them.

But, in another point of view, this poem reminds me that I don't have any friends and that life can suck. But most things remind me of that.

I think it is imperative for people to realize that when they ignore their friends in order to finish the work they are doing, the work may seem important to them now, but in a few days or months, they will have forgotten about it. However, if you keep ignoring your friends, or go away for a while, they may forget about you. And by that time, it will be too late.

He flipped his paper over and glanced around. Most people had finished writing and were exchanging them with their partners. With their friends.

Eli remembered his old best friend, his girlfriend, actually, Julia. She always went over his work and corrected whatever was wrong. But he found out recently, a few months ago, that she had passed away. Killed herself, actually, after Eli had been taken.

If she were here now, he wouldn't have to worry about anything.

Eli could only wish he wasn't so reserved and shy. He wished he had the guts to turn and ask someone to be his partner.

As if answering his prayers, Ms Dawes spoke, "Eli, why don't you join Clare and Adam. You can all review each other's work." Eli turned to look behind him. His eyes met Clare's and she spoke, "Here, you can look over Adam's and I'll look over yours." They all exchanged papers and began reading.

As he read Clare's, though, Eli noticed it lacked point of view. Clare merely stated what she thought the poem was about. He read it several times, trying to come up with a nice way of saying it lacked character.

"This is really good, Eli." Adam said, bringing Eli out of his trance, "Clare, read it." He handed it to her and took her paper from Eli, then gave Eli his own paper.

Adam expressed how his poem made him feel, but it wasn't as advanced as Clare's. It had immature wording but good expression of emotion.

"He's right, Eli. This is really good." She handed it back to him, "What did you guys think of mine?"

"You didn't really say what the poem made you feel." Adam said, and Eli was glad he had the guts to say it so he didn't have to.

"I know. Ms. Dawes said I need to work on my expression. "Eli seems good at it. Maybe he'd give you some tips." Eli nodded, "Uh, y-yeah, sure. If you want." Clare smiled, "Thanks."

"Where did you move here from?" Adam asked. "Cali-California." Damn it. Damn this stutter. Eli thought angrily. "That's cool. I've never been down there. Is it nice?"

"I guess...but I-I hated it." Eli said, with a scowl, shocking both Adam and Clare.

"Class, silent reading now. Get out you independent study book." Ms. Dawes called. In near unison, the class reached into their own backpacks and pulled out a book.

Eli pulled out his Chuck Palahniuk and turned around to face forward. After an hour of reading, the class was free to go to recess. Eli took his time packing his things and leaving class after everyone else.

He found out instantly that despite that it was called 'recess', all it was was a 15 minutes break between class. There was no field, playground or even swings. There wasn't a playground at his old school, either, but there was more than crowded hallways and loud voices.

Just as he had before, Eli felt lost. Before it would've been easy to make friends. But now, he was afraid to talk to anyone. Or even trust anyone.

"You can never trust anyone except me. Not Randy, Phillip or Joe. Only me, baby boy." Justin murmured as he stroked Eli's hair. He had came down into Eli's 'room' and pulled him onto the dirty mattress.

"Y-Yes sir."

"Your neck is just so damn kissable." Justin purred and began hungrily kissing Eli's neck, "You were so worth the trouble." Eli knew he was referring to the fight he had put up when he was taken.

"I had a long day. All day I dreamed about coming home to do this to you." He ran his hand down Eli's side and to his thigh. "You can't trust anyone else. They're too rough. I'll never hurt you, though. Phil and Randy, hell-even Joe, none of them care for you. I'll always take care of you."

Eli shuddered, "Why do you let all your friends touch me, then?" He choked out. "Because they pay me. You're worth a lot. And I can make a lot more just loaning you instead of selling you, as if you were a cheap whore."

Justin moved his hand to Eli's crotch, "No one cares about you like I do. No one loves you like I do." He whispered, before beginning to undress Eli.

"Is he going to be okay?" Drew Torres asked. "His pulse is fast, but all his other vitals are normal. He should wake up soon. Do you know why he passed out?"

"No...he just kinda collapsed." He looked into the room with the 3 beds, where the boy he hadn't even talked to, Eli, laid. Just 10 minutes earlier, Drew had just gotten out of math when he saw Eli faint. Right before, he had stopped walking and had a blank stare on his face. Then passed out, right there in front of everyone.

"Are you friends with him?" Nurse Henley asked. "No. I've never seen him before. Uh, can I go now? I have class..."

"Go ahead. Thanks for bringing in Mr. Goldsworthy." He nodded and left, just as the Goldsworthy's walked in. Meanwhile, in the other room, Eli was just waking up.

"Have you been taking your prozac?" Drew heard Eli's parents ask. "Y-Yes. They don't e-even work."

"What happened? Did you have a flashback?" Drew knitted his eyebrows, 'Flashback'? Bullfrog continued when Eli didn't respond, "He can't hurt you, Eli. He's going to be in jail forever."

"Sh-Shut up! I don't w-want to t-talk a-a-about t-this." He begged. "Well, you will with your therapist."

"No. I-I hate t-talking about i-i-it."

Then a woman's voice, Eli's mom, butted in, "Let's just go home, alright? Come on, Eli." Drew hurried away, replaying the conversation over and over in his head.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"So, why do you think he stutters?" Adam asked. "I don't know. A lot of people stutter."

"Do you think he's retarded?" Clare nearly spit out her soda, "No, he's in advanced English! I'm sure he's not."

"Who's retarded?" Drew Torres asked, bounding down the stairs of the den. "He's not retarded. Maybe he's just shy." Clare argued, thinking about Eli.

"Who?" Drew pursued. "This new kid in our class. 'Eli'." Drew raised his eyebrows and sat on the couch, "Golds-something or other?"

"Yeah. Do you know him?" Clare asked. "Uhh, kinda. He, like, fainted in the hallway. I took him to the nurse."

"He fainted?" Adam asked, "Why?"

"I don't know. But he-he has...I don't know. I overheard him and his parent's talking...It was...weird."

"How so?" Clare thought of Eli. The first thing she noticed was his eyes. His green eyes. They were intensifying.

"His dad asked him if he was taking his-his...some kind of medication, I think, but I forget what kind. And Eli said that the pills or whatever didn't work. And his dad asked if he had a flash back and that someone couldn't hurt him anymore. That 'he' was in jail. And then Eli got mad and kinda yelled at his dad."

Adam swallowed a nervous breath, "That's...that's creepy. I think I'm gonna have nightmares."

"I don't understand...who's in jail? And why would Eli care?" Drew shrugged, "I don't know. Clare, are you spending the night?"

Often, Clare would stay over at Adam's, several times a week.

"No. But I'll stay for a few hours." She said, smiling. "Cool. Wanna play Skyrim? I'll let you go first." Adam offered. "Sure. Sounds fun." The 3 high school kids proceeded to gather around the TV screen and passed the controller around for hours.

() ()

_"Randy is here." Justin said, running down the stairs. "I-I d-don't-" A slap to the face threw Eli to the ground, "Quiet, okay? Don't talk back."_

_Scooting back until he hit the wall, Eli whimpered, "Y-Yes sir..." Justin nodded, "'Kay." He turned and called, "Randy! Come on down, he's ready."_

_The larger man, Randy, weighed around 200 pounds and was mostly muscle. "Here." He handed Justin a small wad of cash. "Have fun, you two." He looked at Eli, who was crying softly. "Be good." He added and hurried up the stairs._

_"Come here." Randy said, but he approached Eli. He sat on the mattress, near where Eli was, and unzipped his pants. Eli knew what was happening and he knew there was no way to stop it._

_"Come on, Bill Kaulitz. It's not gonna suck itself." 'Bill Kaulitz' was the nickname that had been chosen for Eli. With his long hair, he shared some similarities with Bill Kaulitz, member on Tokio Hotel._

_When Eli didn't move, Randy grabbed him by his shirt and lifted him up onto his lap. "Stop it!" Eli shouted and kicked Randy's crotch. He hopped up and scrambled up the stairs, banging on the door, "Please, Justin, open up! I'll do anything, please!"_

_Strong hands ripped Eli and threw him to the cement floor. Before he could get up, Randy straddled him and wrestled his pants off. After an hour of various disturbing acts, Eli was left alone in the cellar._

_"How was it?" Justin asked a few minutes later. Eli ignored him. He was under the covers, naked and sore, crying. "What's wrong with you?"_

_Eli whimpered, "I feel so-so dirty."_

_"You shouldn't. Look at this." Justin held out a wad of cash, over 1200 dollars, "You should feel special. You're paying all the bills, man!" He smirked._

_"Oh, by the way, my friend, Isaac, is coming over tonight. Be ready."_

() ()

Unable to sleep, due to nightmares, Eli Goldsworthy found himself walking down the dark streets of Toronto. He knew his parents would be very upset with him, to know he was leaving in the middle of the night, but he simply couldn't stand to be in that house.

It's not that he had a problem with the house. He liked the house, sure, but he hated how his parents looked at him. Always with pity. They felt bad for him, he knew, but he wished they didn't show it so obviously.

Eli hardly ever slept. 'Insomnia' the doctors called it. A 'commonly paired diagnostic' that was 'often associated' with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Often, Eli would wake up with his pants down and a stranger's dick up his ass. So it wasn't abnormal that he hated sleeping.

There were a lot of things Eli hated that he never used to hate. He hated not only sleeping, but sleeping on beds. His parents didn't know, but he always slept on the floor. He hated mashed potatoes, as that was one of the only foods he was given by Justin.

After 10 minutes of walking the same route he has the day before, Eli discovered the park where he had been the day before. And he thought of Clare. Something about her, he liked. She was cute, in her own way and seemed rather innocent.

And just as he thought about Clare, he saw her. And, for a second, he thought he was seeing things. Could he be seeing things? No. No, she was right there, on the swings.

Suddenly, Eli felt the urge to turn around and run all the way home. He felt so nervous around her. Just as he was about to turn around, Clare stopped swinging and looked behind her.

"Eli?" She choked out.

"I-I swear I'm n-n-not stalking y-you." He stuttered, frozen, "I-I live r-really close a-a-and I couldn't sle-sleep." His lips were trembling, "So I w-went f-f-for a-a walk."

Something about his stutter and how embarrassed he look made her believe him, "Do you wanna swing?" She motioned at the swing beside her.

"Th-Thanks." He sat down and noticed she held a composition book and a pencil. "So, you live around here?" She asked. "Umm, y-yeah. It's, l-like, a-an eight minute w-walk from my house. Wh-What about y-y-you?"

Although Eli spoke few words, it took him a while to get them out. Clare didn't mention the stutter, nor could she imagine herself ever doing so, but she sure noticed it, and was curious. "I live about ten minutes away. I was coming home from Adam's house, and decided to stop at the park."

She paused for a moment, then added, "Why can't you sleep?" He pushed himself so he was swinging, and stuttered out, "A-Apparently I h-have i-insomnia." He couldn't believe he told her that. After promising himself he'd keep quiet about himself, he blurted out about his insomnia.

"Wow...that must suck."

"It's-It's fine." He assured. "How do you think I can improve my analysis?" Eli glanced at the journal in the hand, so that's what she's working on.

"J-J-Just write h-how it-it m-makes you f-f-feel, I-I guess." He suggested. "It's hard to write how you feel. I don't even know why I'm in this class."

"Y-You ju-just need t-to work on y-your expres-pression."

Clare gave a small smile, "I just have trouble putting it on paper. You're so good at it. You know, it's funny how we've met up here twice already."

Eli looked at his hands, "Yeah. It-It's nice...t-talking t-to you, I-I mean."

A sudden excitement spread over Eli when he said that. He didn't look at Clare, nor did he say anything else. He couldn't even believe he'd said that he liked her company. He did, though, but he didn't want to appear vulnerable.

They both stayed silent for a little while, just gently swinging. Clare had tossed her notebook aside, giving up on her project for that night. For minutes, they sat in silence, until Clare said, in almost a whisper,

"I like talking to you, too."

_I knew a boy; He was so young_

_So full of steam; So ready for lust_

_-Welcome to the World, Aurelio Voltaire_

* * *

**Thanks for reading. Leave a review.**

_**-NJCD**_


	3. Jumper

**This is shorter than the other chapters. But, um, here. Enjoy and review...**

**So, I want to start a collaboration on a story I had in mind. Basically, it's about...well, just listen to '_Lie, lie, lie' _by Serj Tankian. I told my brother I would write a story if he chose a song for it, and that was the song he chose.**

**Uhh, so, basically, if you wanna collab with me...message me. Anyone can apply. I underlined this so it would stand out.**

**_-NJCD_**

* * *

**Chapter Three.**

**Jumper.**

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

"You saw him at the park?"

"Yeah. I stopped by there after I walked home last night. We sat on the swings and talked for a while."

Drew, who was hardly interested, asked, "A while?"

"An hour or so." Adam laughed at Clare's answer, though it wasn't meant to be humorous, "Probably because he can't talk."

Clare turned to Adam, "He can! Geez, Adam, you're so mean."

"He can't talk?" Drew asked.

"He stutters on every word." Although Adam found it amusing, Clare did not. "I would expect you, of all people, Adam, to be more considerate of people's problems." She spat.

"He's weird! You shouldn't even be hanging out with him!"

Clare sighed, "He's a little weird, but he's really nice, Adam. He helped me with my assignment last night."

"I could've helped you." Adam said, softly. "Adam's just jealous 'cause Clare has a new boy-toy." Drew teased.

"Shut up, Drew." Clare and Adam said in unison. Neither of them had feeling for each other, but Adam cared for Clare deeply, as did she for him.

"Do you like him?" Adam asked, softly, so Drew could not hear. He had gone back to his video games, anyways.

"I've known him for 2 days." She scoffed. He looked unconvinced and upset, so Clare added, "No. No, I don't. He's...He's a friend. We've been texting. He's really nice."

"He's weird." Adam said. They sat in silence for a while. In honestly, Clare felt like she could like him. He was attractive. His eyes made Clare melt, though he never looked directly at her. That she knew of.

He was sensitive, in a good way, and smart. And he was always clean. Clare's first boyfriend, KC Guthrie, always was sweaty. Of course, he was on the basketball team and had a lot of games. Nonetheless, Eli seemed to always be perfectly clean, with not a speck of dirt on his body.

But there were negatives to Eli as well.

He was extremely skinny, which worried Clare, as she also never saw him eat. He stuttered, which Clare wasn't judgemental for, as Adam was, but it made it hard to keep a conversation. Eli had a lot of interesting things to say and topics to debate, and his stutter took away time that they could be talking.

He was shy, but Clare found it adorable.

* * *

"So, Eli, have you made any friends?" Bullfrog asked. "Y-Yes. Umm, A girl. N-Named C-Clare." Eli mumbled. "A girl? Is she pretty?" Cece smiled, gushing over the fact Eli may, possibly, be making friendships that would last him years.

"K-Kinda...yeah. She's really n-nice."

"Are you gonna ask her out?" Bullfrog asked. Cece smacked his arm, "He's known her for 3 days."

"He knew Julia for a class period before he asked her out." As what he said left Bullfrog's mouth, he knew he said the wrong thing. Eli had only found out about Julia's death less than a year ago and it was way too soon to even say her name.

"Bullfrog..." Cece warned.

"I-I-I n-need to go, I think." Eli said, standing up and rushing out of his house. Within seconds, his parents were calling him, but he ran as fast as he could.

He couldn't believe his dad had brought up Julia. He could feel his heart racing and a panic attack forming.

He loved Julia, and they had just began saying that to each other. For 7 months after Eli's disappearance, Julia had fallen into a deep depression. She hardly talked and was failing the classes she once got straight As in.

Though so many people reached out to her, she ended up committing suicide. It shocked the school and Eli when he found out. It was his parents who had told him, after he asked about her.

Justin often came home with stories that he saw Julia with a new boyfriend, looking happy as ever. He said she didn't even look like she missed him and her and her new boyfriends bought condoms.

It didn't anger Eli, but instead sent him into a deep depression. He and Julia had been virgins, and were planning to keep it that way.

Later, he found out the stories weren't true. She wasn't even around anymore and Justin knew it. For some reason, he loved playing those kinds of mind games with Eli. Whatever spilled tears, Justin would do.

_"You're-You're picking up a Rubik's cube, right?" Eli stuttered from the corner. "For sure. I went to the ATM last night and even made time during lunch today so I can pick one up. Expect it when I get home."_

_Eli nodded, but was unconvinced. Justin began up the stairs, but turned around, "I promise."_

_12 hours later, when Justin came home, he presented Eli with a gift, but it was far from a Rubik's cube. "It's by George Orwell. Read it." He tossed the book, without care, at Eli. 'Animal Farm', it was called._

_"W-Where's the Rubik's C-Cube?"_

_"Next time. Read the book, alright? It's a really good book."_

_So Eli did read it. He stayed up for a few hours reading it (it was a short book). When Justin came downstairs the next morning, Eli said to him, "It doesn't make any sense."_

_"What doesn't?"_

_"The book. How can the animals talk? And how can the the farmer understand them? I mean, I know it's fiction, but-"_

_"It's not fiction, idiot. God, you're fucking stupid. It's good I pulled you from that damn school. All this actually happened," He tapped on the book, "But they have to replace the people with animals so half-wits like you can understand. Haven't you ever read a fucking history book?"_

_Justin shook his head, clearly annoyed._

_"Read it again."_

_So, Eli did. He read it again, and again, and again. He read it 3 times before Justin came home, but still didn't understand it. The way he read it, it was fiction. A near child's tale, actually._

_But when he told Justin that, he was smacked across the face and snapped at, "Haven't you any brain in that fucking head of yours?! Jesus Christ, you've never heard of the Russian Revolution?"_

_"The-The what?"_

_"Karl Marx. Joseph Stalin? Really?! None of these even ring a bell?" Eli stayed silent._

_"Do I have to go over every fucking character? Oh my God. Old Major is Karl Marx. Napoleon is Stalin. Snowball is Leon Trotsky. Squeeler is Molotov. Mr. Jones is Tsar Nicholas-" Justin stopped his ranting, "Is any of this ringing a bell? Did you ever learn this?"_

_'N-No, sir..."_

_"Read that fucking book until you understand it." He snapped and stormed out. That was the time Eli found out how passionate Justin was about history._

The book was one of the thing he'd kept. He kept it in his pocket, as it was small enough to do so, and read it every day. He at least owed Justin that.

He had read it every day for 4 years, even though he understood it long before that. Every weekend, for a month, Eli and Justin watched documentaries and read books about Stalin, Trotsky, Molotov and all things Russian Revolution.

He also made Eli do homework, that he made up, and write essays. This way, Eli became good at both History and English. Unfortunately, Justin knew nothing of math, so Eli learned little more than what he already knew.

Eli found himself, like always, at the park and at the swing set. He didn't feel like swinging, however, so he just sat against one of the post and read Animal Farm in the light cast from the corner street lamp.

By the time he'd finished the book, he was calm, but didn't want to go home. Secretly, he'd been hoping Clare would show up, like she often did. But, to no avail, Clare did not appear.

Pulling his cell phone from his pocket, Eli texted Clare,

Hey, what are you doing?

movie night at Adam's. U?

At the swings.

do u want to join us?

I don't want to intrude. And he meant it. He kind of knew Clare, but hardly knew Adam. As much as he wanted to hang out with her, he'd rather her come to him.

Its not intruding; Im inviting you

Maybe another time. He stared at the text before sending it and placing his phone down. He leaned his head against the swingset and closed his eyes.

He felt content for a second, after having talked to Clare, but suddenly, demons began to fill his head. Little voices that told him how worthless he was. Voices that resembled people he'd never met and people he knew too well.

Damn it! He'd been so good at suppressing the voices. They left him alone. They weren't supposed to bother him anymore. Why are the bothering him? Why are they back?!

They taunted him, told him how dirty he was and how much of a failure and disgrace he was to his family.

The only reason he couldn't stop the voices for good was because they were his own. It was so deafening, he felt like his ears would bleed, had they been coming from outside his head.

After slamming his head against the pole he sat against, harder and harder, he managed to beat the voices out of his brain. And then there was silence.

Not for long however, because he really took to heart the words the voices had spoken to him. He slammed his head against the metal pole a few more times, whispering to himself, "Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Fuck, why am I so stupid?!"

He ceased into a state of soft sobbing. "Eli!" He looked up at the voice, his father, approaching him. "Come on. Let's go home." He was bundled up in a thick jacket and had a cup of coffee in his hand.

Without speaking, Eli stood up and accepted the coffee. As they walked down the street, Bullfrog said, "I'm sorry for bringing up Julia. I know its hard for you because you found out a lot later than all of us.I think this is something for you and your therapist to talk about."

"Okay."

"Or you can talk to your mom and I. You know, we love hearing your voice. It's matured so much since-since-" He released a sob, "You're mom and I both love you, Eli. We love you no matter what you've been through or what's happened. Eli, we will always be by my side."

"Okay, dad. C-Can we just s-stop talking about th-this?" Eli had been taught never to talk back, but he couldn't handle this. He already felt horrible enough about being taken, but he hated that his family felt it was their own fault.

It wasn't their fault. It would never be their fault. It was his fault for not running when Justin approached him that night.

_Eli had just changed into his costume for the play and was exiting the bathroom, which was located at the side of his school. He exited to see Justin Kimbell there, a man he didn't know at the time._

_"The play starts at 7, right?" He has asked. He was well dressed, with a tie, and had a clean shaven face. His hair, at the time, was dyed with grey strands, so he looked much older than he really was. He looked totally normal. There was no reason, at the time, to fear him._

_"I have the replacement lights in the van, for Mr. Rally." He turned back and pulled the doors to his van open. "He called me last minute, saying the spotlight had broken. We've known each other for years."_

_He began to pull out a large spotlight from the back of the van, only to groan and grab his back, "Ow, ow, damn..." He held the lights up, with a tight expression._

_Eli immediately rushed over to him, "Let me help-" He didn't even finish his sentence when he saw 2 other men in the back. Justin hoisted the lights back into the van and shoved Eli in as well._

_"Hey!"_

_But he was instantly pulled in further by one of the men and gagged._

Remembering the abduction, Eli bit his lip and tried not to cry. He cried too much. He seemed to cry all the time, but if he didn't, he'd lose it. All the anger and rage would build up and he'd break down and have a panic attack. Probably in public, too.

Once at home, Eli sulked up the stairs to his room. He drank the coffee very slowly, enjoying it's warmth and taste.

He opened his closet, which he hardly paid attention to, and moved some things aside, added some blankets and — presto!—he had a little, makeshift hiding place.

He went inside of it and curled up on the floor. Before he had squeezed inside the closet, Eli had grabbed a picture that was in his drawers. It was of him and Julia.

'Why couldn't you wait for me?" He whispered. 'Do you know what-what happened to me? Could you see down from where-wherever you were and a-are and see me being-being raped? I'm free n-now. You-You could've wait-waited for me! Damnit, you c-c-could've waited!" He hissed.

"F-Fuck...I-I'm not mad. N-Not at you. I-I-I left you. I left you. I-I tried to c-call you, I-I really d-did."

_"Your little girlfriend's in the paper." Justin had a cruel smile on his face. He was sitting down on a box-crate, reading that day's newspaper._

_"Julia? She is? Let me see." Eli hurried over to him, but Justin stood up and shoved Eli, hard, onto the concrete floor, "I could show you...or I can let the anxiety get the best of you."_

_"I hate you." Eli hissed, "I-I fucking h-hate you. You...You could've waited. You could've f-fucking waited!"_

_He felt all this anger, and he really hated Julia. He knew, at the time time, that he had no reason to and he would've done the same. But he couldn't control his anger._

_"I hate you." He broke the photo over his knee and threw it outside of the closet, across his room._

_That night, Eli had a dream. Of course, there wasn't a night where he didn't have a dream. This dream wasn't that bad. It was bad, of course, but it wasn't horrible._

_"This is Paula."_

_Eli looked up at the women — she must've been in her 60's. 'Paula' had worn, wrinkled skin, was anorexic thin and smelled of sex, cigarettes and depression._

_"She's your wife for the night." Justin smirked, "Have fun." Eli didn't even need to look at him to know he'd just made $40-$250 and it was in his pocket. And he'd probably spend it on something stupid._

_"How old are you?" The women, 'Paula', said, sitting on Eli's lap. She wrapped her legs around him and held her breast close to his face. "I-I'm fif-fif-fifteen." Eli stammered, feeling beyond uncomfortable._

_"Yeah, is that so? I'm 26. How do you like to do this? Get right at it or take it slow." She began to grind against his lap. He knew she was lying about her age..._

_"I-I-I-"_

_"I'll take lead." She purred, beginning to discard his clothes and her own._

_Eli woke up, in the middle of the night, shivering and crying. He wasn't cold, just terrified. Paula was the first girl he had sex with and it was horrible. She had a damn hole in her throat, and she liked to 'use' it. Paula, in anyone's opinion, was a freak._

After that incident years ago, Eli didn't talk for a week.

_I wish you would step back _

_From that ledge my friend _

_-Jumper, Third Eye Blind_

* * *

**So, as a lot of you probably noticed, Adam is kind of a jackass. He loves Clare (not romantically, but the way friends love each other) so he's super protective over her and, from what impression Eli has left, Adam feels that he's a bad guy.**

** To be honest, I wanted to make the Eli-Paula seen a lot more graphic, like, full on. Like, how Forced Love was pretty graphic, but more so. I just couldn't force myself to write it. And I don't know if it's because I feel uncomfortable writing it because I know my *girlfriend* will read it or because I've never written a women forcing a man into something sexual. **

**I don't know.**

**But, just to make it clear, they had sex.**

**Soo...what do y'all think of the story so far?**

**_-NJCD_**


	4. Let You Down

**In the reviews or in a PM, ask me something you've always wanted to ask me.**

_**-NJCD**_

* * *

**Chapter Four.**

**Let You Down.**

Saturday, September 22, 2012

"I think that-that I love th-this p-park as much as you do." Eli said, with a smile. Eli said to Clare.

"Wanna know the best part about it?" Adam asked. The three, Eli, Clare and Adam, were walking to the park that evening. It wasn't very dark outside as it was merely 6 o'clock.

After much convincing from Clare, Adam had warmed up to Eli and the three of them planned a night at the park.

"The b-best part?" Eli repeated. Adam began to run forward, towards the swings, and jumped up, grabbing the top bar. After a slight struggle he flipped himself upside-down and hung by his legs.

Clare followed him and hung, just as Adam was, but with her shirt tucked in. "Come on, Eli!"

Eli shook his head, "Uh, n-nah...I'm fine..." Clare gave him the cutest pouting face he'd seen in a long time, "Please..." She dragged out the word, smiling at him innocently.

"Fine..." He walked over and, although it took him a while, managed to mimic Adam and Clare. "I love looking at the world upside-down." Clare sighed, joyously. "The birds, the trees, the happy people..." Clare went on, and Adam said to Eli, "Get ready, she'll go on for hours."

"I have to apologize for Adam. He doesn't appreciate the beauty of the world." Eli nodded, "Well, no-not all the world is-is beautiful."

"See, even Eli agrees with me." Adam teased. "You're so full of yourself." Clare bickered. Eli listened to them for a few minutes, until they realized they were being exclusive, "Hey, I'm getting light headed." Adam said, swinging down. Clare, and then Eli, followed.

The three sat on the swings and swung for an hour, making small talk and discussing homework. "Do you guys want to head to my place for movies?" Clare asked. "That's a first..." Adam commented, "Are your parents not jumping at each other's throats?"

"Actually, my dad...he, uh, he left..." Clare's eyes dropped, and she could feel tears coming, "I know he's going to come back...my mom said he would...he just needs some time." She sniffled and twiddled her thumbs.

"I'm sorry, Clare..." Adam put his arm around her, pulling her closer, "We can come over tonight. You in, Eli?" He looked up at Eli who had been silent until this point, "Uh, yeah. Yeah, that sounds great. Should we go now, then?"

"Why not?" They stood up and began the walk down the sidewalks of Toronto. The sun had mostly set by now, so they were walking in near darkness, not counting the occasional street light.

They passed a few men smoking some type of illegal substance, "You kids wanna buy some?" The men waved a bag of a sugar-like powder. They ignored them and hurried along, "Lucky you have 2 strong men beside you." Adam teased, bumping fist with Eli. "I'd never expect the city I grew up in to be so dangerous at night." Clare commented.

"This is what we get for taking the back roads." Adam had his arm looped with Clare's, making sure there was no way she could get separated from them. "Was it like this in California?" Adam asked Eli. "Umm...I-I don't know. I, uh, I never le-left the bas-the house at ni-night." He said.

"I bet it was. I've heard—no offense—bad things about California. Drugs, murders, rapes-"

"All of which we have here." Clare commented. "Yeah," Adam agreed, "But you don't turn on the news and hear, '_5 dead in Toronto shooting'_." Adam said.

"I guess so. But we're not perfect, as you can see." Clare glanced at some teens their age smoking cigarettes. "Do you miss California?" Adam asked.

"N-Not in the least." Eli said, truthfully. There were too many memories there. There was Julia,

_"I love you." Eli said, looking nervously at the rose he held in his hand. Julia smiled and pulled him against her body, "I love you, too." She pressed her lips to his and they shared the most passionate kiss they'd ever had._

_**"She's **dead, Eli."  
_

There was Justin,

_"I know you want to go home. This is your home." Eli had sheets and blankets wrapped around him, "I want my mom!" He yelled, "I want my dad! Fuck you, you're a freak!"_

_"You're the one who just had gay-sex with a 38 year old man."_

There was the trials,

_"Did he rape you, Mr. Goldsworthy?" The lawyer asked. "Uh-uh-" Eli lawyer whispered into his ear, "You need to answer this. Nobody will judge you. It needs to be over with." She said._

_"He's staring at me." Eli whispered, glancing at Justin, who flashed Eli a devilish smile. _

There were some good memories, but the majority was bad. At least they took up the most space in his brain.

They were still 2 blocks from Clare's house when an man saw Eli and stepped out onto the sidewalk, blocking the teenagers path, "Hey," He pulled out a scrap of paper, a photograph, actually, from the pocket of his leather jacket, "You're Elijah." He said.

Both Clare and Adam looked between Eli and the man. "Uh, it-it's E-Eli." Eli corrected, feeling uneasy. The man shook his head, "He said you'd say that." He reached into his wallet pocket and, at first, the trio thought he was going to reveal a gun. Eli stepped forward, in front of Clare, grabbing her hand tightly with his own. She looked down at the sudden contact and squeezed his hand, reassuringly. The man only pulled out a book.

"Um, who-who said that?" Adam asked. The person, the man, looked around 40, had a shaven head, was hefty, maybe 230 pounds, and had stubble covering his face.

The man looked right into Eli's eyes, "Justin. He also said to give you this and to look at pages 12," He tapped the tattoo Eli had on the back of his right hand, "and 23." tapping the other number. The tattoo was the roman-numerated date Eli'd been taken, .MMVII.

"Fuck you." Eli spat, shoving past the man, pulling Clare with him. "Whoa, take it easy." The man muttered. "Hey!" He yelled. Eli looked back. The man tossed the book, "Don't forget the present." He said in a mocking voice. Eli caught the book, and turned around, storming away.

"What was that all about?" Adam asked. "Nothing. Let's-Let's just g-go." Eli choked out, suddenly remembering he was holding Clare's hand, he released it, "S-sorry. Can we-Can we just go?" He looked at them with pleading eyes.

"Uh, yeah. It's probably best just to hurry along." Clare agreed. They walked in silence for the rest of the way.

When they arrived at Clare's house, they found Helen to be asleep already. "I'll make some popcorn and stuff. You two can choose a movie. I'll be right down." Adam said, opening the cupboard. He'd known Clare for years, so it was accepted that he'd raid their fridge at any given time.

Once into the cellar, Eli sat on the couch and pulled his legs to his knees. The book was still gripped in the same hand that had the tattoo. Clare noticed it for the first time.

She sat next to him and rubbed his back, trying to comfort him, "Are you okay?" She asked. "No." He choked out. "Do you want to talk about that guy?"

"I-I-I d-don't ev-even know h-him." His stuttered had worsened; he was in the middle of a panic attack. "Who's Justin?" Eli took a deep breath and lifted his head, resting his chin on his knees, "Just...Just a-a-a really, _really_ bad g-guy..." Eli trembled. He lowered the book and dropped it to the ground. She looked at it, reading the title, _1984._

"I-I think I'm okay..." Eli said, wiping his eyes on the inside of his t-shirt. "Wait, let me get you some tissues." Clare reached over to the coffee table and handed Eli the box of tissues. "Thanks." He blew his nose and stood up to throw the tissues he'd used away.

He sat back down and Clare said, "I'm always here if you need to talk." Clare said. He didn't respond, just stared at the book, tempted to open it.

"I got the snacks! What movie are we watching?" Adam yelled, running down the stairs. The two pulled apart, though they hadn't been doing anything wrong, and looked at Adam. "You okay, Eli?" Adam asked, seeing his red eyes. "Uh, y-yeah." He said.

"So, what movie?" Adam asked, placing down popcorn, soda, candy, root beer and just about every snack there was. "We were waiting to let you decide." Clare said. "Sweet." Adam got on his knees and shuffled through the DVDs and VCRs the Edwards kept under the table.

"What's 'Son of Rambo'?" Adam held up the VCR.

"Something of my dad's. Wanna watch it?" Adam shrugged, "Sure." He slid the VCR into the slot on the TV and joined Eli and Clare on the couch.

They'd only watched half the movie by the time Clare had began to fallen asleep. She tried to stay awake, but she failed and was in a deep sleep. Slowly, her body leaned and stopped against Eli. He looked down at her, her head on his shoulder, sleeping contently.

Eli looked at Adam, who was smiling, "Hey, dude?" Eli was completely tensed, afraid that any movement would wake her, "Yeah?" Adam pursed his lips, "Do you...like her?" Eli's eyes went wide, and he looked at Clare, then back at Adam, "Clare?" He asked Adam.

"Do you?"

"I-I don't know. Umm-" He looked back down at her, making sure she was really asleep, which she was, "I-I...Like, _like _h-her?" He asked. Adam laughed, "You do!" Eli gnawed on his lower lip, "Umm, I-I don't know."

"Have you ever had a girlfriend before?" Adam asked. "In-In California, I did." Adam nodded, "Long distance didn't work?" Eli released the breath he was holding, "She, uh...she killed herself." Somehow, Eli didn't stutter. Adam's eyes went wide, but he relaxed them, trying to not make a big deal out of something that was actually a huge deal, "Wow...I'm...I'm sorry."

"Yeah, me too." Eli sighed, "She hung herself." Adam took a deep breath, "Wow. Umm, why'd she...kill herself."

"It's a really long story." Eli shook him head and wiped his eyes.

"Does Clare...does she l-like me?" He asked, trying to forget Julia. Adam looked at her, "She had a crush on you, yeah." A smile crossed over his face and he looked down at Clare, relaxing.

"Dude, you're smiling." Adam commented. Eli immediately faded his smile and licked his lips, "She makes me happy." He said softly. "Well, then, let me help you." He stood up and took a loose hold of Eli's arm and draped it around Clare's shoulders, "You guys are cute together." Adam said. Eli looked at Clare, "Did-did she_ really_ say she-she likes me?"

"To be honest," Adam said in a softer voice, "She goes on and on about you sometimes. For some reason, she thinks your handsome and smart." Adam teased, smirking. "Wow."

"Now you know." Adam looked back to the TV and all was silent for the rest of the night. Except for the blaring coming from the TV. By the end of the movie, it was 9 o' clock. "Are you gonna spend the night?" Adam asked. "Uhh-"

"It's probably fine if you do. I do all the time."

"I'll-I'll text my mom." Eli said, pulling out his phone,

_Can I stay at my friends house tonight?_

She responded a minutes later, _We haven't met any parents yet. Are you at Clare's?__  
_

Eli typed back, _Yeah. Can you come and get me? I don't wanna walk home by myself. _Eli looked up at Adam, "I can't. My parents haven't met Clare's parents." He explained. "Next time, then." Adam said. Eli's phone buzzed, _Your dad will be there soon._

Eli pulled his arm from Clare and stood up, gently lying her down on the couch. "She's really-really tired..." Eli muttered. "She stayed half the night, listening to her parent's fight." Eli frowned, "Oh. T-That sucks..."

Eli looked down at the ground, seeing the book he'd discarded. He sat back on the couch, careful not to disturb Clare, and picked up the book. "Who was that guy?" Adam asked, sitting beside Eli. "I-I, uh, I don't know."

He looked at the first number on his tattoo, XII—12, and flipped to that page. Scribbled in bold, capital letters were the sharpie printed words:

**WE WILL BE TOGETHER AGAIN**

Eli looked up at Adam, who was cleaning up. Quickly, he flipped to the page that showed the second number on his tattoo and saw the same hand writing,

**EVEN IF IT'S NOT IN THIS LIFETIME**

_You may be full of fear_  
_But you'll be safe here_

_-Let You Down, Three Days Grace_

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**5 reviews = next update**

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**Things that have been established so far:**

**Eli previously lived in California.**

**Eli faced molestation, rape and all physical, mental and sexual abuse at the hands of Justin Kimball**

**Eli stayed in one room, a cellar, for four and a half years.**

**Justin Kimball was originally going to be given 40 years with no chance of parole, but was instead given 3 life sentences.**

**Cece Goldsworthy blames herself for Eli's abduction, as she pressured him to try out for the play.**

**Eli was a virgin before he got kidnapped.**

**He has a stutter, though we don't know _his _reasoning and thoughts on why this is. We may next chapter.**

**He waited 5 years to get a Rubik's cube (as he spent 6 months focusing on legal trials).**

**His parents make him wear a metal whistle around his neck for safety precautions.**

**Eli is 16 as of now, and was newly 12 (just recently turned 12) when he was abducted. I do not know if this would, chronologically make sense.**

**Eli was abducted in 2007. It is, currently, in the story, 2012. Chronologically, this probably makes no sense.**

**He is practically obsessed with 'Animal Farm'**

**Eli was abducted by a man named Justin Kimball and 2 other unnamed (for now) accomplices.**

**He was abducted on December 23, 2007, after offering Justin, disguised as a friend of the drama director, help with moving a stage light.**

**Eli escaped Justin when he saw a police officer and begged for help at a gas station him and Justin were at, while Justin was in the store and Eli was in the car.**

**Eli bears a tattoo on his right hand that says .MMVII (12.23.2007) the date Eli was taken into 'sexual slavery'.**

**Adam was hesitant about Eli and Clare's friendship, as he felt Eli to be 'weird'.**

**Clare and Eli both have crushes on each other.**

**As of this episode, it would appear that Justin has contacted Eli.**

**_-NJCD_**


End file.
